Monday, October 31, 2011

Yesterday My family and I jumped in the car and picked a compass heading.

After deciding on East, we drove an hour and a half and found some spooky locations.

Lovely Lake Palestine, was by far the creepiest lake I've ever seen. The drought in Texas had drained it of 12' and exposed the former forest the damn had covered up. Oh so scenic.

We also found a huge, I mean ginormous rose garden.

We wandered down it's isles and found roses that smelled like liquorish, fruit punch, and pepper!

It was pretty amazing with 38,000 rose bushes and 600 varieties on 14 acres.

Wow!

﻿

Early in the day we browsed a Architectural salvage Warehouse/yard. It was SO BIG, which seemed to be a theme that day. It had rooms and rooms and rooms of fire mantles, claw footed bathtubs, unique doors, tin ceiling tiles, windows and my favorite, stained glass! Anything you could want to build a house you could find here, only older and better!﻿

Eventually we were so far east in Texas that we almost hit Louisiana, and the locals were pretty hick.

We drove past this awesome modern ruin, of a truck stop. Cracked, leaning, old 7UP sign, and fully grown trees in the center? Qualifies as a haunted house to me!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

I can't help but think of my all time favorite costume when I was little. I dress up as the ancient Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, complete with linen dress, headdress, huge necklace plait, arm pieces, and thick eyeliner. It was awesome, and I made it all myself.. I just wish it had been warmer that night.

Anyways, my Spaceman/Monster Mash painting has been so much fun to work on. I love havinga good painting to sink my hours and thoughts into. These oils are working beautifully, in fact I can't believe this is only my second painting with them. I don't think that I'll ever be able to go back to acrylics!

His foil spacesuit has been a challenge to paint since I don't have the color black.

My teacher forbade us of it until we know how to properly mix colors. Maybe I'll sneak some.. it's so hard!!

I put together this animation to show how I like to develop my subjects.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Don't you love to learn? The small things, like riding a bike, potting a plant, a sweet recipe for muffins. Well, I'm putting my acrylic paints in the closet for a bit and learning how to oil paint. So far I love it! Oils are SO different from acrylics. Sure they take longer to dry, (a few days!) but they're made for smooth blending and building up layers is nearly effortless!

Since I'm a newbie, my art teacher is having me copy a painting of a horse.

but.... at home I've been experimenting on my own!

This is what I've got so far,

it's a re-take on the "Monster Mash"

My key character is a Spaceman, and the painting seems to be taking a turn toward the romantic.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to paint a straight up serious painting, but I adore a bit of whimsy.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Mine was full of little surprises. I crashed a little league game, visited an aquarium spur of the moment, almost witnessed a horse drawn carriage collide with a taxi, discovered frogs don't have tear ducts, got hit in the head by a Frisbee, and screamed at Ikea when a little girl jumped out at me in the lighting department.

"BOO!"

I'm easily frightened, she must have been 5, and was she proud about scaring a big kid.

"I Booed you!!" she kept saying.. Oh kids are so funny! :)

It was that experience out of all the others this weekend that inspired my latest painting Idea. It's based off that cheesy Halloween classic the Monster Mash. I wanted to make a painting depicting just that! A dance full of odd creatures, not necessarily mummies and skeletons, I'm no Tim Burton. No, I'm thinking more along the lines of Fosters Home For Imaginary friends meets Jetsons spacemen. They'll all be slow dancing, and I could go either way on the color scheme. I could go for soft browns and golden hues to evoke a 1950's golden age feel, that would contrast nicely with the unusual subject matter. Or I could use purples and greens in a smooth modern and crisp way..

Whatever I pick I know it'll work out, but it's fun to consider the options.

Lately I've started taking pictures of the park outside my window.

I love watching the kids play after school, the nannies with babies in strollers, the dad and son play catch. It gives me a sense of community, and it's amazing how beautifully people interact with each other. Enjoy!

Friday, October 21, 2011

I love how he manages to take his odd imagination and create youtube videos and comics! His work is somewhat childlike, filled with adventure, imaginary creatures and a silliness rare in "big kids". Ed Stockham, yup, he reminds me to take life and art with a dose of wimsy.

Thanks Ed!

Stay Artsy,

~Sarah Bosserman

p.s. I must share this sweet song! The water noise reminds me of Portland OR. :)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I had been on the lookout for a smaller, colored purse for awhile now and when I found this one, I knew it was perfect! It reminds me of a purple purse I spotted in a Paris window display. Of course that one was way out of my price range at 300 euros... Thank goodness for Target!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

To Celebrate I drew this lovely cupcake. While you pretend to tuck in to it's yummy frosting and fluffiness, I'll continue on with the usual post.

I'm pleased to announce that the Peacock painting is finished! I had a lot of fun working on the scroll work and the bold feathers. One of these days I'll have to give in and buy a new camera!! This picture doesn't do it justice.

Whenever I finish a piece it's a bit sad to say goodbye. I was commissioned to make this one, so it'll be leaving soon. I pour so much time and thought into what I create, that when it is time to send it off I'm a bit clingy. Ah well, I know it'll be loved.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

First, watch this video, it makes you want to jump off your couch and live.

It also makes you wish he had a parachute on.

This is Speed Climbing.

For anyone wondering the song was Welcome Home by Radical Face

Isn't this awe inspiring? Don't you want to get out there now? Not necessarily to climb a mountain, But take a hike? Learn karate? Take a painting class? Whatever it is that you're too timid to try? If a Swiss dude named Ueli Steck has the guts to climb a crazy sick mountain, than why can't you take a chance too? Be daring!

Today I finished the Peacock painting, now I've got to paint the edges of the canvas, and tomorrow I'll unveil it to all of you! I'm extremely pleased with how it all came together, and I learned a lot from it. Those are the best kinds of paintings.

Ok, now it's my turn to be brave like Ueli Speck,

here is my first fashion look for my blog!

One of my favorite places to shop might be a bit surprising.

I LOVE thrift stores!! There is a common misconception that thrift stores are scary grungy place where you might catch third world diseases. Not So! Thrift shops are great places to find vintage, classic and unusual pieces for your wardrobe and home! That's where I found this sweet Navajo inspired half jacket. Right now Native American prints are all over the place, and in magazines like Vogue and Elle. I Pared this cozy jacket with skinny jeans and a tucked shirt to off set the exaggerated sized sleeves. Oh, and do you want to know how much I paid for this coat? Five dollars!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Ever since I started this blog I meant not only to share my art, but also my love of fashion.

Sharing my art has come easy, but as of yet I've been to timid to share fashion looks. Not anymore though! I've had the virtual and mental version of a makeover! It started when I watched the key note speech Steve Jobs ( May he rest in peace) gave to Stanford University in 2005. This is the greatest encouragement speech I have ever seen both online and in life.

This video forced me to re-work everything this blog was meant to be. Things had to change

in order for growth. If you don't take risks then you become mentally stagnant. So, I sat down for an entire day, studied blogs I admired, made lists of priorities, and gave my self permission to be bold and adventurous. The readers of this blog are my family, friends and Lookbook followers. I didn't want to let you all down, but what I realised is I was letting myself down living within a grid of rules I had created.

Would you all be disappointed if I started highlighting fashion as well as art?

No, of course not!

Sounds silly, but we all force ourselves into conventions we think others expect. Mr. Jobs touches on this in his speech briefly and that's what got me out of my box.

So, to wrap it up, Life With Sarah B will now have both Art and Fashion. Whew! I feel better, don't you? Oh, and I gave the blog a makeover during this whole thing, I'm quite proud of my handy work :)

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About Sarah B

Sarah Bosserman is an artist from Portland Oregon living in Dallas Texas. She's a world traveler and experienced art teacher. To contact her for enquiries into her art, or to just say hi, email SarahBosserman@gmail.com